used to have it all, or so she thought. She had a plum
job on Capitol Hill as a congressman's staff director, the
respect of peers and the allure of the power of politics. Then she
looked more deeply at what she was doing, and she realized there
was more to be gained in the New Economy.

In January 2000, Vance ditched all the trappings of the
traditional day job-the camaraderie, the benefits, the steady
paycheck-to go it alone with AdVanced
Consulting, a Washington, DC, political advocacy consulting
firm. She has a handful of clients, a few long-term commitments,
the freedom to work when and how she wishes-and she has a ton
of fun in the process.

Sure, some friends still ask Vance, now 34, about the latest
scoop on the soap operas and how the bon-bons taste. But she's
content to chart her own course. "That's what being a free
agent is all about: the flexibility to do my own thing," she
says.

Free agent. It's the mantra of the New Economy, an era where
employees have become entrepreneurs and are selling their services
back to the companies that used to issue them a salary, benefits, a
W-2 and not much else.

The term begs some definition: It doesn't just connote
self-employment; it's a mind-set. Free agency, at least for
those who ascribe to the clique mentality promoted by
trend-watchers, is as much about work style as it is about work. It
is the career move, not just a stepping stone on the path to a
better job in corporate America.

A free agent isn't necessarily someone who makes a product
to sell to the masses. Generally, a free agent is a consultant, an
information peddler, someone who has spent some time in the
corporate realm and headed off on his own to do the same
job-only for himself.

Just How Many Are There?

knows free agency. He has lived and worked as a free agent since
the mid-1990s, when he gave up a post as then-Vice President Al
Gore's chief speech writer. As founder of FreeAgentNation.com, an information hub for
independent workers, Pink estimates that some 30 million free
agents work amid the American landscape, including "ruthlessly
small" microbusinesses, "nanocorporations" and even
3 million temporary workers who ditch the regularity of staff work
for the self-defined and self-timed parameters of agency gigs.

Free agency can be traced back to the 1980s, when corporate
America sought to trim the fat by casting off its work force en
masse, says Pink. Those jettisoned were left to find work for
themselves; those lucky enough to keep their jobs were left to
worry if they'd be next. Amidst it all, the bond between worker
and employer weakened as people realized they were so much
unappreciated chattel. "People's expectations from
corporate America have waned," says Pink. "People want
money and meaning from work."

Free Agent: Simply Irresistable

Some 10 years into his homebased writing gig, Lloyd Lemons
fancies himself a soloist. It's not just the catchy name or how
it fits the way he works, says the business and marketing writer,
who lives in Plano, Texas. It's the way it fits that
intersection between his lifestyle and work style.

For people like Lemons, father of two sons in their 20s, the
need for independence is often too great-even in the face of
attractive job offers. Lemons left homebased self-employment twice
in the past 20 years for a total five years-earning double
his homebased income in one job and triple in another-yet the
call of independence eventually lured him back home.

"My whole kick is freedom," explains Lemons, who today
makes more than either job paid him. "I've had corporate
jobs I couldn't stand. I've sacrificed a lot to be a free
agent. What I do is part of who I am." Even for those who work
in corporate America, the free agent mindset will take hold,
predicts Terri Lonier, president of Working Solo
Inc., a San Francisco consulting firm that targets independent
workers and the companies that market to them.

Couple Generation Ys with older, former-corporate denizens who
will take their own corporate know-how home to work, and the result
will be a community of computer- and business-savvy
entrepreneurs.

Even those who return to corporate America will do so with
knowledge and experience that only comes from having done it
themselves. "In the future, there will only be two kinds of
individuals: those who are entrepreneurs, and those who have to
think like entrepreneurs," says Lonier. "As independents
come back into the corporate structure, they're bringing an
enlightened awareness of bottom lines, P&L and ROI."

What ultimately defines the free agent? Pink concurs with Lemons
that freedom has a lot to do with it. But there's also
authenticity, accountability and self-defined success. It flows
from technology, from people who no longer wish to be corporate
chattel and from the desire to be the driver, not the driven.

"Today, charting your own course isn't just more
necessary than ever before," says Pink, "it's also
much easier-and much more fun."

Journalist and author has worked from home since the 1980s. He writes about
home business, teleworking, marketing, communications and other
SOHO issues.